Republican National Committee v. Democratic National Committee
Headline: On the eve of Wisconsin’s April 7 election, the Court stayed a lower-court order and blocked counting absentee ballots postmarked after election day, limiting late-mail voting and affecting Wisconsin absentee voters.
Holding: The Court granted a stay and held that, to be counted, absentee ballots must be postmarked by election day, April 7, 2020, or hand-delivered by that day and received by April 13, 2020.
- Requires absentee ballots to be postmarked by election day to count.
- Limits counting of ballots mailed after election day, affecting late-requesting voters.
- Stay remains while appeals and possible Supreme Court review proceed.
Summary
Background
The dispute involves political groups and voters in Wisconsin after the State decided to hold its April 7, 2020, election during the COVID–19 pandemic. A District Court extended the deadline for municipal clerks to receive absentee ballots from April 7 to April 13 and then ordered that ballots mailed and postmarked after April 7 still be counted if received by April 13. The State proceeded with the election, and parties asked higher courts to review the District Court’s order.
Reasoning
The narrow question was whether absentee ballots must be mailed and postmarked by election day, April 7, or whether they could be mailed and postmarked after April 7 so long as municipal clerks received them by April 13. The Court found the District Court erred in allowing ballots postmarked after election day to be counted because changing the rules so close to the election fundamentally alters the nature of the contest and conflicts with this Court’s precedents limiting last-minute changes to election rules. The Court stayed the District Court’s order so that, to be counted, absentee ballots must be postmarked by April 7 and received by April 13 at 4:00 p.m., or be hand-delivered by April 7 at 8:00 p.m. The stay is temporary while appeals and any petition for Supreme Court review proceed.
Real world impact
The ruling narrows which late absentee ballots will be counted in the April election. It preserves the extended receipt deadline (April 13) but requires voters to have ballots postmarked by April 7 or hand-deliver them by April 7. The Court emphasized it did not decide broader questions about whether to hold the election or other COVID–19 related election reforms.
Dissents or concurrances
Justice Ginsburg, joined by three colleagues, dissented, warning the stay risks disenfranchising many voters who had timely requested absentee ballots but had not yet received them amid a surge in absentee requests and postal or administrative delays.
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